Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 714

◈ 714. Saying Goodbye, One by One

Shin Jo-woon stared at Jang Tae-ri, his face a mask of disbelief.

Jang Tae-ri’s expression was calm and serene, as if they were just planning a casual stroll in the park.

Shin Jo-woon, briefly swayed by her nonchalance, quickly snapped out of it and refused.

“No way.”

“Why not?”

At Jang Tae-ri’s question, Shin Jo-woon almost blurted out, ‘It’s dangerous,’ but he knew that would only make her more determined to come along.

Jang Tae-ri was stubborn that way, with a knack for hiding her persistence from others.

After a moment’s thought, Shin Jo-woon responded in her own style.

“It’s just a quick trip. Why would we both go?”

“It’s less lonely with company.”

“If I go alone, I only need to watch my own back. But if you come along, I have to protect you too, which is more trouble.”

“Shin Jo-woon, it might be easier for you to protect yourself alone, but it won’t do any good. You can’t seal it yourself, can you?”

Unfortunately, Shin Jo-woon’s strategy was foiled by Sagamjae’s intrusion.

As Shin Jo-woon glared at him, Sagamjae smiled obliviously.

“See? It’s useless if you go alone.”

Jang Tae-ri chuckled and lightly nudged Shin Jo-woon’s elbow.

“Let’s go together.”

However, Shin Jo-woon had no intention of taking Jang Tae-ri into danger.

He came here to prevent Rembrary from taking on dangerous tasks alone. Bringing Jang Tae-ri along would make no difference.

In the end, Shin Jo-woon gave up on making excuses and confessed, half honestly.

“You have a lot of work to do here. Stay behind.”

Jang Tae-ri raised her eyebrows.

“So, it’s not just a quick trip. Then I should go even more.”

Seeing that she wouldn’t back down with mere persuasion, Shin Jo-woon’s expression hardened, and he said firmly.

“I don’t want to go with you. If you really want to come, come alone.”

“You can’t seal it alone, and I can’t enter this place alone. What are you talking about, knowing all this?”

“…….”

“You can’t do anything alone, so why are you trying to go in alone?”

Just as Shin Jo-woon was about to say something,

“How did you feel when you couldn’t stop your brother from dying before your eyes?”

Jang Tae-ri brought up a topic she would never normally mention. As the traumatic memory surfaced, Shin Jo-woon’s jaw muscles immediately tightened.

Jang Tae-ri grimly observed the change and asked.

“Do you want me to feel that way too?”

“!”

Shin Jo-woon was stunned. What Jang Tae-ri just said was like a cheat code [an unfair advantage or shortcut].

With Jang Tae-ri acting like that, Shin Jo-woon had no rebuttal.

Jang Tae-ri saw Shin Jo-woon’s rigid expression, smiled lightly, and suggested.

“Let’s protect each other. That’s all we need to do.”

Finally, Shin Jo-woon sighed and turned to Sagamjae, asking,

“How dangerous is it inside?”

Sagamjae avoided the icy glare created by Shin Jo-woon, touched the rose wall with his fingertips, and after about five seconds, he removed his hand and said.

“The power will definitely be flowing inside. But it’s become clearer even outside. At first, the flow was barely noticeable, but it’s getting stronger and stronger… The inside is probably even more chaotic.”

“It won’t be easy.”

Jang Tae-ri waved her hand, using and then dismissing her ability, and asked again.

“You’ll tell me how to seal it, right?”

“Of course.”

Sagamjae answered immediately but hesitated before adding.

“But Saint Jang Tae-ri, the double seal is just a hypothesis. We can only know the exact situation once we go inside. If we’re unlucky, we might go inside and seal it, but it might not work. That’s why Rembrary said it would be better if he came himself.”

However, Jang Tae-ri didn’t back down. She knew that if she retreated here, Shin Jo-woon would come alone again.

What she said to Shin Jo-woon was sincere. Jang Tae-ri knew how difficult it would be for her if she let Shin Jo-woon go in alone.

It was much better to go in together and increase their chances of survival.

“Either way, if we can’t stop that explosion, the whole planet is in danger, right? Then it’s better to stop it.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Rembrary was a little disappointed that the meal he had been looking forward to with Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon ended so strangely.

It would have been better if they were just a little less upset or even somewhat cheerful. But they didn’t even eat properly and just left.

Rembrary thought about just going home, but even as he thought that, he ended up calling Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri several times.

But when they didn’t answer, Rembrary wondered if there was something wrong with his phone, so he called Woo Yeon-woo this time.

[What? What is it?]

Woo Yeon-woo answered the phone curtly.

“You answer right away. So, it’s not a phone problem.”

[What?]

“Some people have been particularly avoiding my calls lately. Especially Whale and Otter.”

A loud music sound that seemed to be coming from whatever he was doing was heard over the phone and then stopped. Soon, Woo Yeon-woo’s grumbling voice was heard.

[Did you fight again? You guys have been fighting a lot lately? Whose fault is it?]

“Of course, it’s their fault.”

[There’s a high chance you provoked them somehow, right?]

“What are you talking about?”

[Think about it. A slip of the tongue or something.]

“Not really. I just told them I was leaving. But they didn’t even care about that. They were just a little surprised.”

Woo Yeon-woo was very busy, so he hesitated whether to hang up the phone as Rembrary continued to talk about things only he knew.

Then, he was surprised by Rembrary’s sudden words and asked.

[Wait a minute. Leaving?]

Rembrary realized that the order of his words was mixed up.

“Ah. I haven’t told you that story yet, have I?”

[What are you talking about? Where are you going?]

“Actually, I’m going back to my hometown this time.”

[Hometown?]

“My original world, I mean.”

For a moment, the sound disappeared over the receiver.

“Yeon-woo?”

Why do these guys always lose contact whenever they hear a story? Rembrary called out several times, and Woo Yeon-woo finally managed to answer.

[I’m here.]

“Why did you suddenly stop talking?”

Woo Yeon-woo’s answer disappeared again.

“Yeon-woo? Yeon-woo. Yeon-woo!”

Rembrary asked repeatedly, and soon a loud voice that shook his eardrums was heard over the receiver.

[Are you crazy!]

“No.”

[You’re telling me such an important thing over the phone?!]

Starting with that, Woo Yeon-woo shouted and protested for about 10 minutes.

Rembrary listened calmly to the sound, and whenever Woo Yeon-woo took a breath, he quickly explained.

“I was going to meet you to tell you this story anyway. But as I was talking about how Anchovy and Otter weren’t answering, I ended up saying it here.”

However, Woo Yeon-woo seemed not to hear Rembrary’s excuses as he was venting his anger.

In the end, Woo Yeon-woo said everything he wanted to say and hung up, leaving Rembrary feeling empty and blinking.

* * *

Rembrary wasn’t in a good mood because of the series of reactions.

But focusing on the part where Woo Yeon-woo got angry at the end, he went directly to the next person and told them about his trip back home.

Fortunately, this person wasn’t too surprised by Rembrary’s hometown story.

“Actually, Redrin-nim [referring to a divine being or higher power] told me that story too.”

Instead, Daeju seemed to have anticipated Rembrary’s departure to some extent because he had heard the story from Redrin.

“Since he told me, I thought he would have told High Priest-nim as well.”

“What did he say? Are you going with me too?”

Rembrary was happy for no reason and asked with a delighted expression.

He wasn’t as close to Daeju as he was to Pig, Anchovy, and Woo Yeon-woo, but he had grown quite fond of him while being together for a long time. It would be nice if they could go together.

However, Daeju shook his head.

“I said I would stay here.”

“Why not?”

“When High Priest-nim disappeared and went to be with Lumena-nim [another divine being]. During those few years of absence, our side has been working with the Otherworlder Management Agency to manage the Otherworlders.”

“Really?”

“Yes. We’re doing a lot of things. There are Otherworlders who have chosen to reside here, and it’s not easy to send those who want to return right away.”

“You’re not going because you have to take care of those people?”

“That’s part of it.”

“?”

“Even if I stay here, I’m still receiving Redrin-nim’s power, right? I’m not as strong as Rembrary-nim, who can change his abilities depending on Redrin-nim’s condition.”

“That’s true.”

“Besides, unlike High Priest-nim, I don’t have a distinct personal reputation. I’m in Redrin-nim’s shadow, and people don’t think of me and Redrin-nim separately. So, if I stay here and help people, it will be helpful to Redrin-nim.”

Rembrary thought Daeju’s words made sense, so he reluctantly nodded.

“That’s true.”

* * *

That evening, Rembrary tried to contact Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri again, but neither of them could be reached.

Rembrary was disappointed and continued to send them texts expressing his disappointment, but there was still no reply.

‘Even if it’s Anchovy, Tae-ri said we should eat delicious food together and go out and play. Why did they suddenly stop contacting me at the same time?’

Rembrary was a little disappointed, but he couldn’t force a connection that wasn’t there.

On the other hand, Ardore was excited and packing everything he wanted to take back to his original world.

In the end, the next day, after failing to reach Shin Jo-woon, Jang Tae-ri, and Sagamjae,

Rembrary went to see Morso this time and told him about the explosion Waryon had mentioned, and then brought up the story of having to return at once.

“The situation is unstable, so it would be good if I could keep watching from the side. But Redrin-nim told me to come back, so I think I have to go.”

Morso was drinking coffee and listening to the story when he was so surprised that he almost spat out the coffee he had put in his mouth.

As he coughed from choking, Rembrary brought him a napkin and handed it to him to wipe himself.

“What are you talking about?”

Morso asked, flustered.

“You’re leaving?”

“Didn’t Kamuel say anything to you?”

It seemed that Kamuel wasn’t telling Morso to return. Morso shrugged.

“He didn’t say anything in particular.”

“Is it because Kamuel-nim hasn’t become a Demon King but has maintained almost all of his previous power?”

“That could be it.”

Rembrary, who had said that far, had a good idea and asked.

“Then, would you keep a close eye on the place where the Demon King is sealed? If things look like they’re going to get big, would you help Sagamjae solve it? You said your power is almost the same. And if you can’t solve it with your power alone, call me through Kamuel-nim.”

Morso raised his eyebrows but nodded readily.

“Okay.”

Not only that, but he also said something Rembrary didn’t ask for.

“I’ll take good care of your followers after you leave.”

Rembrary was even more relieved by those words and returned the favor.

“Thank you. I’ll take good care of Kamuel-nim’s followers when I go to my original world.”

It was when the two high priests were exchanging good words and talking.

After finishing the conversation. As Rembrary was leaving the Hunter Management Agency, Sagamjae was unexpectedly standing in front of the agency. Sagamjae, who had been so unreachable.

Rembrary remembered being ignored by Sagamjae all this time, so he didn’t say hello and just passed by, even though he had texted and called first.

“Rembrary-ssi. I didn’t want to say it, but I thought it would be better to say it, so I came.”

However, he had no choice but to turn around at the sound of Sagamjae urgently calling from behind.

“What are you talking about?”